CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Trump administration proposed privatizing the Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) in its budget last year.
Cato has released a study discussing the PMAs and the advantages of privatization.
https://tinyurl.com/yb4lsb39
The federal government has been in the electricity business since in the mid-20th century. Over time it has become clear that...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Part of the federal government is closed today because the two parties cannot agree on a discretionary spending plan for the balance of fiscal 2018. No compromise has yet secured the 60 needed votes in the Senate. The government had been operating under a “continuing resolution”...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
If you are interested in national issues such as defense, foreign policy, and trade, and want to hold public office, you should run for Congress. If you are interested in roads, beaches, subways, and policing, you should run for city council or the state legislature.
The push...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
This small news bite from the Washington Post yesterday caught my eye:
Moving costs: Booz Allen Hamilton, the McLean, Va., consulting and government contracting giant, is receiving a $750,000 loan from a Maryland economic development fund and a grant of $250,000 from Montgomery County to relocate 750 Maryland workers from...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Last week I sat down to talk tax reform with Nick Gillespie, the editor-in-chief of Reason.com and an all-around guru of libertarian policy and culture. We covered individual and corporate taxes, and then pondered whether Republicans will follow up next year with spending cuts.
Chris Edwards is...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The House and Senate have passed bills cutting the federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 20 percent. This overdue reform will spur capital investment, strengthen the economy, and reduce tax avoidance. Republicans have long championed this reform, and President Trump had proposed an even lower...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Critics are saying that the Republican tax plan would give high earners the largest cuts. There has been a flood of news stories with that theme since the Tax Policy Center (TPC) released its analysis of the plan.
The TPC summary says, “Those with the very highest incomes would receive the...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Trump and his advisors are stressing that they want tax cuts for the middle class, not high earners. Trump said, “the rich will not be gaining at all with this plan,” while Treasury Secretary Steve Munchin said, “Our objective is not to create tax cuts for the wealthy....

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has released data on worker compensation for 2016. The data show that wages and benefits for federal-government workers grew faster than for private-sector workers last year. Federal workers now receive 80 percent more compensation, on average, than do workers in...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Congress may loosen 401(k) rules to allow Harvey and Irma victims to access their retirement savings without the usual 10 percent penalty on early withdrawals. The Washington Post reports mixed views from experts on the idea. In the past, the government has allowed “hardship loans” against 401(k) assets in...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Corporate tax reduction is at the center of the tax reform debate in 2017. While the United States has the highest statutory corporate tax rate in the OECD, some pundits claim that U.S. companies are not so hard done by because they pay low effective rates....

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing to cut the corporate tax rate. With any tax cut, members of Congress want to know how much revenue the government may lose from the reform. I do not think that cutting our 35 percent federal corporate tax...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The federal government provides an array of subsidies to increase the consumption of biofuels such as corn ethanol. The subsidies include tax breaks, grants, loans, and loan guarantees. The government also imposes a mandate to blend biofuels into gasoline and diesel fuels.
A new study at DownsizingGovernment.org...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President-elect Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he will balance the federal budget and cut wasteful spending. Here are some of Trump’s views on budget reforms:
“We are going to ask every department head in government to provide a list of...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Office of Management and Budget has released new data on the amount of time Americans spend complying with the federal tax code. Tax Foundation summarizes the data here.
Individuals and businesses spend 8.9 billion hours a year on federal tax paperwork, which is equivalent to 4.3...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
For more than a century, America has been the global leader of the aviation industry. But these days, the government-run parts of the industry are inefficient and falling behind, including airports, security screening, and air traffic control (ATC). International experience shows that these activities can be...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Committee on the Budget
United States House of Representatives
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify. My comments will examine the history of federal debt and reasons to balance the budget and reduce debt going forward.
Looking at federal debt compared to...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
For taxpayers needing IRS help, this year’s filing season could be a nightmare. The Washington Post today reports on the long lines at IRS offices. The newspaper suggests that five years of Republican budget cuts are to blame, even though Democrats control the White House and,...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Tomorrow at CPAC, I will discuss some advantages of infrastructure privatization. Perhaps the largest advantage is innovation. Unlike government bureaucracies, private firms in a competitive environment are eager to maximize the net returns of projects, so they find new ways to reduce costs and improve quality.
The...

CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
In recent decades, the Democratic Party has moved far to the left on economic policy. I have discussed the leftward shift on tax policy, which was illustrated once again by President Obama’s generally awful proposals in his new budget (see here, here, and here).
What about regulations?...

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Self-Educated American: “Standing Fast by our Judeo-Christian heritage, limited government, and the U.S. Constitution” since December of 2009 (formerly The Moral Liberal) in a manner which is principle-centered rather than party-centered.